“I do not know the apparent meaning of the Quran,” or to claim that it has no apparent meaning. But to designate the indeterminate, less likely meaning—rather than any other—as the apparent meaning is distortion and alteration.

The ninth response is to say to him: The dual form is unambiguous in what it denotes, because it belongs to the class of numerical expressions, and numerical expressions are unequivocal. One cannot say “two,” “three,” or “four” and mean anything other than that number. It has even been said concerning such statements as His words:

“They shall wait for three periods.” [al-Baqarah 228]

that this requires complete periods, because a numerical expression is used. This differs from His words:

“Hajj is during well-known months.” [al-Baqarah 197]

Here, only part of the three months is meant, because the expression is plural and because such usage occurs with expressions denoting time.

As for the singular form, it often denotes a kind as a whole, encompassing it whether there is one instance, two, or three. It may also denote one particular individual. It may be said that the former is the default meaning. Thus, when a negative particle precedes it, its apparent meaning is to negate the kind as a whole. It may instead be intended to deny that there is just one of that kind, as when one says, “It was not one man who came to me, but two.” This runs contrary to the apparent meaning. The default, when you say without qualification, “No man came to me,” is that the negation should be